No. 4.] BEE KEEPING. 83 



hives of blacks were diseased. I question whether a bee ever 

 goes from the diseased colony with its honey sack so free from 

 honey that it contains no germs, and many of them, being 

 driven by sudden storms and enticed by the hum of home- 

 coming bees, may stop at any hive of black bees in their line 

 of flight. 



American foul brood may be in an apiary for several years 

 without doing any particular damage to neighboring yards. 

 Most of the larvie die after the brood is capped, and the cap- 

 pings have either holes in them or else are concave instead of 

 convex. This kind gives forth a glue pot odor, and has a 

 gluey consistency, often stringing out an inch when a tooth- 

 pick is inserted in the matter in the cells. When dried this 

 adheres so firndy to the cells that the bees cannot remove it 

 except by tearing down the entire cell wall. This disease is 

 also caused by a specific germ, called Bacillus larvw. Both 

 yield to the same treatment, — shaking all the bees from the 

 comb on to clean frames having starters or full sheets of comb 

 foundation, being very careful not to allow a single cell to re- 

 main in the hive for the bees to deposit the honey in that they 

 carry with them, as it would contain the germs of the disease 

 and the work would be in vain. The combs of brood from the 

 diseased colony, or of several if you have them, may be placed 

 in one or more hives and put over a weak, diseased colony to 

 hatch, first putting a queen excluder over the weak one. This 

 colony will be strengthened by the hatching bees and later may 

 be treated as were the others. The combs should be carefully 

 put where no bee can reach them, and may be made into wax. 



In eleven years' experience I have never known a case of 

 disease to originate from wax made from diseased combs. By 

 Italianizing and this shaking plan, coupled with the work of 

 the four inspectors, we have nearly eradicated this disease. 

 During the past season T failed to find a single case of disease 

 m any of my yards, which contain four hundred and fifty 

 colonies. The yard that has had the least disease of any was 

 one where all were of a vigorous strain of Italians. During 

 the last seven years we have found but ten cases on this yard, 

 and those were of a very mild type. I could cite numerous 



